How To Assess Rental Market

[Robert Huang]

Hi I am just starting out in the rental property business. I am re-locating from Southern California to Las Vegas. So while doing some market research online at www.apartments.com, I realized that there are A LOT of rentals in LV, density-wise, compared to Ventura, CA or Oxnard, CA where I live. I am looking to do Single Family Home rentals, buy and hold strategy.

How do I assess vacancies and need for more rentals? The rental rates has got to be competitive, and that means the purchase price of the house must be great in order for cash flow to be positive. Has anyone been dazed before by the number of rentals available but did it anyway and saw the light at the end of the tunnel?